Lone Pine: Horseshoe Meadows

obie · Post by **obie** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:54 am

I've been doing some altitude training in the Lone Pine area this month. For cyclists this area has three of the big climbs in the USA: Onion Valley Road, Whitney Portal Road and Horseshoe Meadows Road. My first two trips were (for me) high heat survival riding: 102-105 degs. It's been a slow process acclimating to not only the temps but the humidity. Really enjoy the climbs and the serene beauty of the Sierras.

Horseshoe Meadows Road

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:03 am

Wow.

Now that's what I call a bike ride. Pretty cool stuff.

HJ

Funyan005 · Post by **Funyan005** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:42 am

I remember driving up that road and my old tank of a car had trouble gettin up that hill. Can't imagine peddling up that

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 8:23 am

nice! i'd love to do these eventually. what's the grade up to Horseshoe meadows?

obie · Post by **obie** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:10 am

Zé wrote:nice! i'd love to do these eventually. what's the grade up to Horseshoe meadows?

Horseshoe has a section of about 5 miles on the switchbacks that I was showing 9-11% all the way. It's a long climb too - about 20 miles from Whitney Portal Road. It's Baldy Ski Lifts x 3 = big effort.

The Summerson book lists Horseshoe as the 2nd toughest in CA. Onion Valley is 1st and Whitney Portal comes in at #5.

EManBevHills · Post by **EManBevHills** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 11:39 am

Wow & Congrats! Is there a Masochists' Tour De Sierra?

Ze Hiker · Post by **Ze Hiker** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:00 pm

what's the toughest climb in all of the US?

Post by **Taco** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:04 pm

That's a ton of work!

obie · Post by **obie** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm

Zé wrote:what's the toughest climb in all of the US?

Mt.Washington, NH is listed as #1. Adding to degree of difficulty is the fact that it used to be closed to cyclists except on the day of the annual hill climb event.

Here's a thread that's kicking around on one of the bike forums which shows the CA/USA lists from Summerson's book on big climbs.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.ph ... California

This one has the Stelvio in Italy listed in the "19 Most Complex and Dangerous Roads in the World." The switchbacks on the Stelvio make for an interesting descent (I'm told) by cyclists.

http://www.waze.com/blog/the-19-most-co ... the-world/

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:23 pm

obie wrote:The Summerson book lists Horseshoe as the 2nd toughest in CA. Onion Valley is 1st and Whitney Portal comes in at #5.

I have not done Onion Valley or Horseshoe Meadows but want to get around to it one of these days. I do recall peddling to the Portal from Lone Pine one August day. It was really hot and I realized as I neared the switchbacks that I had left my water bottle back in town. Fortunately, a storm hit just before the real climb started. I was soon soaked and a bit chilled. It felt like heaven! There was no damage that Portal Store refreshment could not cure in short order. It all turned out to be a good warmup for the Whitney hike the next day.

obie · Post by **obie** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:29 pm

AlanK wrote: There was no damage that Portal Store refreshment could not cure in short order. It all turned out to be a good warmup for the Whitney hike the next day.

Indeed.

hvydrt · Post by **hvydrt** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:52 pm

Wow! Good job. I get tired driving that road.

I saw a bunch of bikers riding up to Rock Creek last weekend. It looked like some kind of organized race?

obie · Post by **obie** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 8:42 pm

There are two big amateur climbing events/races left on the calendar and the Sierras are the best place to train.

The Everest Challenge is some heavy lifting:

http://everestchallenge.com/

Furnace Creek 508 I find rather disturbing yet have friends who think it's a perfectly fun way to spend 40-50 hrs. on a bike.

http://www.the508.com/